The Simmons Musical Association At the first meeting of the newly organized Simmons Musical Association held on December 18 the following officers were chosen: president of the Association, Miss Clarissa G. Babcock, 1913; secretary-treasurer of the Association, Miss Charlotte E. Reid, 1914; manager of the Choir, Miss Bessie L. Jost, 1915; treasurer of the Choir, Miss Elizabeth H. Day, 1913; director of the Glee Club, Miss Mabel W. Daniels; manager of the Glee Club, Miss Elizabeth M. Walker, 1913; secretary-treasurer of the Glee Club, Miss Edith H. Salisbury, 1914; librarian of the Glee Club, Miss Laura E. Johnston, 1913; leader of the Mandolin Club, Miss Anita Q. Clark, 1914; manager of the Mandolin Club, Miss Katharine Fall, 1914. The constitution of the Association is as follows: Art. I. The Organization shall be called the Simmons Musical Association. Art. II. The Association shall consist of the Choir, the Glee Club, and the Mandolin Club. Art. III. The aim of the Simmons Musical Association shall be to promote the study of music among the students, to furnish music for Assembly, and to give concerts during the year. Art. IV. Sec. 1. There shall be a president of the Association who shall be a member of the Council of the Guild, and a secretarytreasurer. Sec. 2. The Choir shall have a manager and a treasurer. Sec. 3. The Glee Club shall have a director, a manager, a secretary-treasurer, and a librarian. Sec. 4. The Mandolin Club shall have a leader and a manager. Art. V. Sec. 1. Membership in the Choir shall be limited to those judged eligible by the director. Sec. 2. Membership in the Glee Club shall be limited to those members of the Choir judged eligible by a committee con sisting of the director and the officers of the Glee Club. Sec. 3. Membership in the Mandolin Club is open to all students who play stringed instruments. Art. VI. Special meetings of the Associa tion may be called by the president. A notice of such meetings must be posted on the bulletin board two days in advance. Art. VII. Sec. 1. Rehearsals of the Glee and Mandolin Clubs shall be held regularly once a week. Sec. 2. Special rehearsals of the Choir may be called by the director. Art. VIII. Three unexcused absences from rehearsals during a semester shall suspend a student from membership in the Glee and Mandolin Clubs. Art. IX. A fine of ten cents shall be imposed for every unexcused absence. Art. X. The officers of the Choir and of the Glee and Mandolin Clubs shall be elected by ballot from among the members of the bodies to which they belong, at their annual meeting in May. Art. XI. In case of a tie, the decision between candidates shall be made by lot. Art. XII. A plurality of votes cast shall elect all officers in the Association. Art. XIII. The income of the Associa tion shall be used for necessary expenses of the Association. Art. XIV. An annual meeting shall be held by each branch in May to choose the officers for the following year. The officers of the Association shall be elected by the Association at large at their annual meeting in May. Art. XV. The constitution be may amended by a two-thirds vote of the Association. The Vermont Club is now organized with eighteen full members and one honorary member. The officers are president, Miss Mary C. Dutton, 1913, of East Craftsbury; secretary and treasurer, Miss Sarah W. Orvis, 1915, Manchester. Essay Contest for College Women The Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration has opened an essay contest similar to the one held last year. It offers a first prize of $200 and a second prize of $100 (given by Mrs. Elmer Black, of New York) for the best essays on "International Peace" written by undergraduate women students of any college or university in the United States. The contest will close March 15, 1913. For particulars address Secretary of the Conference on International Arbitration, Lake Mohonk, Ulster Co., N. Y. Miss Katherine Warren, 1914, won the second prize in the contest last year. It is hoped that some of our students will submit essays in the present contest. Faculty Notes Professor Norris, who gave a course in elementary organic chemistry at Harvard last term, has been appointed to give a course in advanced organic chemistry for graduate students during the present term. Dean Arnold has been elected a member of the Board of Directors of the new Children's Museum of Boston. This museum will be conducted along the lines of the Children's Museum in Brooklyn. Professor Bolton spoke before The New England Society in the City of New York at the Waldorf-Astoria, December 3, on The Preservation of New England Antiquities. He also addressed the American Historical Association at their Boston meeting, December 28, on Genealogy and History. Professor Hanford read a paper on The Debate of Wine and Water before the Modern Language Association of America in Philadelphia, December 28. A son was born to Professor and Mrs. Percy G. Stiles on January 14. Professor Farley is engaged in writing a school grammar in collaboration with Professor George Lyman Kittredge of Harvard. The book will be published this spring by Ginn & Co. In recognition of the contributions of Mrs. Richards to the cause of Household Economics, Simmons College commemorated her seventieth birthday in the Household Economics Department on December 3. Mention was made of Mrs. Richards' services in the various classes and Dean Arnold addressed the Freshmen and other groups. The American Historical Association and the New England History Teachers' Association were entertained at a tea given by the College in the students' room Saturday afternoon, December 28. Professor and Mrs. Ogg were in charge of the affair and President Lefavour, Dean Arnold, Professor and Mrs. Ferguson of Harvard, Professor and Mrs. Andrews, and Professor Kingsbury were in the receiving line. The exhibit of the New England History Teachers' Association was held at the same time in the College building. About two hundred were present. Mr. Everett J. Harrington of Worcester has succeeded Mr. H. Richter Austin as college organist. The organist at the decennial celebration on October 30 was Mr. Burdett of Harvard Church, Brookline, and not, as stated in the last number of the QUARTERLY, Mr. Austin. Miss Emma B. Matteson, now in the State Normal School at Winona, Minn., has been appointed instructor in Household Economics to succeed Mrs. Dimock, who retires in March. Mrs. Mary B. Moran is giving the lectures in Institutional Management during the present semester. Miss Helen Jackson, former instructor in Secretarial Studies, will assist the department this term. The College has received the resignation of Miss Clara D. Campbell, who has been on leave of absence this year. Among the Alumnae Household Economics and Social Service. Two years ago, when in the west, I made a tour of visits, inquiring of all the settlements what they were doing to connect up the domestic science work with the home. Every one seemed to feel a kind of unrest about the whole matter, but no one was able to throw much light on the subject, and I returned to Boston convinced that there was still a great problem to be solved. Following this, it was interesting to learn that those who were training the domestic science teachers were having similar questionings as to the efficacy of the field work which was being done. Simmons College, particularly, seemed ready to respond to any suggestions which could be made for crossing the bridge leading from the lessons to their practical application. People in the nurses' profession had already felt that there must be more elasticity in their work, and that the training of the up-to-date social worker most nearly fitted in with their instruction to round out the person who was able to do the district work. Similarly, our schools of domestic science were groping for some method of preparing workers who were going to raise the standard of living in the homes of the poor. At Simmons College the curriculum of the cooking department was based on a possible fifteen hundred dollar income, which put it absolutely beyond the range of usefulness to settlement people, and it was too much to expect an under-graduate to be able to re-apply what she was learning to the needs of a family with the average five hundred dollar income of the unskilled laborer. So the first step seemed to be for the College and Settlement to combine, each supplying its own special knowledge and uniting in a person who would carry the word from one side to the other. Simmons College chose a supervisor, and the settlements were willing to co-operate. Each settlement in this scheme has a person who is working constantly to supplement the academic work of the students by calling in the home, helping the mother to use what her child is being taught as a real asset in the home life, and re-interpreting that home life to the college girls who meet the children in the class-room. One girl, in speaking of her class, said, that although she had known her children personally for three months, after a talk with a settlement worker she felt that each child had been born again in her own mind, and that instead of dealing with a "little girl" question, she was grappling with the great problem of raising the standard of living in the homes from which the children came, and that she was a part of the whole great effort. Not only the children, but she herself had been re-incarnated in her mind. This plan has brought about a different standard of teaching in the settlement, for although the college girls are volunteers, they work under very careful direction, and the supervisor is able to insist upon a standard which one outside of the academic world would hardly dare to impose. This is the second year of a plan which will eventually work out a new profession for women, that of home-maker in the families of a neighborhood where the standard of living must be raised in order to give everyone his chance. One of the largest contributions which can be made in this day is to add to the list of industrial opportunities for women where the special abilities of the woman can be so extended and applied as to make for her a place where no man need apply. As soon as woman realizes the value of her economic standing in the world where she does not compete with man, but really is working where she has the field entirely to herself |